Spider's Web
by RadioactiveDuck
Summary: Lily was happy in life. She had everything she'd ever wanted, and now to seal the deal she was going to marry a lordling, one Severus Snape. But her life is knocked askew when she falls into the wrong hands. LilyJames, AU
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Spider's Web  
**Author:** RadioactiveDuck  
**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** Lily was happy in life. She had everything she'd ever wanted, and now to seal the deal she was going to marry a lordling, one Severus Snape. But her life is knocked askew when she falls into the wrong hands. Lily/James, AU  
**Beta:** None  
**Disclaimer:** I'm not Rowling. I have no wish to be Rowling. The characters you recognize are not mine. This disclaimer applies to all future chapters.  
**A/N:** I'm going to try not to waste your time, but I do need to make a few statements about the fic. First off, it is way AU. Usually I try to stay true to the books, but this is an exception. I've taken liberties. Lily is going to be slightly OoC, at least in the beginning. Eventually this will be Lily/James, but be patient, it's not yet there. The rating is currently only for language. I am unsure content-wise of where I'm going with this, but I'm sure the rating will factor in eventually. It usually does. And, lastly, I don't want to waste space by thanking you all/answering your questions in a chapter at the beginning or end. Just let me know if you'd like a reply (by saying so in your review) and give me the means to email you. Thanks in advance. And yes, before you ask, the chapters will probably get longer. This one is more of a Prologue than anything else.  
And now, without further ado, I give you Spider's Web.

* * *

Delilah Victoria Evans could not help but consider herself perfect. She'd been told her entire life that she was beautiful – with her stunning green eyes and brilliant, fiery hair, milky white skin without so much as a freckle to mar its flawless surface, and tapered waist that was tiny enough for her fiance to wrap his hands around – and had long since come to accept it as fact. Not only was she beautiful, she was also remarkably intelligent. Just turned sixteen, she had recently completed her last course of schooling, earning top marks in each of her classes, including geography, Spanish, reading and writing, arithmetic, and of course fine etiquette. To top it all off, she was quite wealthy. Or at least her parents were.

Her parents, of course, could not help but admit that their precious Delilah was so much better than her eldest sister, Petunia. It was just the two girls, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans favored their baby girl as anyone would, doting upon her with fine silk dresses and the best jewelry and trinkets they could afford. Whatever she wanted, they got for her. Petunia had her share, of course, but it was painfully obvious to the whole of London that it was the younger daughter who ran the family. Needless to say, Petunia was very put out with Delilah and the tension between the sisters was almost tangible. They loved each others, as sisters do, but after Petunia had been married off to one Vernon Dursley she rarely bothered to come around.

Delilah was thrilled with the prospect of her own upcoming marriage. Her fiance – a Lord, no less – was almost as good a catch as they came. He was young, only a year or two older than she, and not altogether ugly, though his hair could do with a good washing and his nose was slightly hooked. All the same, Delilah thought him to be a kind enough man when it suited him, and after her agreement to his proposal it had suited him just fine. He was rich, besides, rolling in enough old money that Delilah could not even begin to fathom how she would begin to spend it. She could hardly wait for the day when she would become Lady Delilah Victoria Evans Snape. It was a good-sounding name, and she was happy.

Content to think upon only her upcoming marriage, Delilah never dreamed of a day where things did not go her way. Little did she know that destiny would see fit to intervene and knock her from her comfortable bubble into the swirling turmoil of reality.


	2. Chapter 2

"But Lily, you hardly know the man. What if he's wretched?" Petunia's ordinarily thin face was pinched with worry for her younger sister, but Delilah could only think of how the expression made her look rather horse-like. Her hair was stringy golden blond, her teeth almost too large for her mouth, eyes set closely together over a pug nose. The differences between the sisters was remarkable; Delilah often wondered how her parents had birthed the both of them.

"You shouldn't pinch your face like that, Tunia. You'll get wrinkles." Delilah took a delicate sip of tea from the china cup in her hands, pinky in the air like a proper lady. The liquid burned its way down her esophagus and into her stomach. "Anyway, if Mother and Father find no fault with him surely he isn't wretched. He has been nice enough during our evenings together; I hardly think that a wretched man would take his time to fool so many people just for my hand in marriage."

"And if he keeps a mistress?" Petunia pressed. "He is a young bachelor, and with all that money..."

"I'll run her out of the house or throw her to the dogs," Delilah said with a laugh.

"What if he beats you, or –"

"If, if, if," Delilah cut in, shaking her head full of fiery tresses. "We can play this game forever and it doesn't mean a thing. I am marrying Lord Severus and we will live a wonderful and happy life together. He is everything I have ever dreamed of: young, handsome, chivalrous, _rich..._Oh, Tunia, aren't you happy for me?" Delilah took her sister's hand, gazing earnestly into her face. "I know we haven't always been close, but think of the life it will mean for me. For us. Everything I've ever wanted is within my grasp. Fancy parties, a handful of servants, vacations in Paris or Madrid..."

As she spoke she moved her hands to her body, lowering them until her palms rested over her abdomen as if she were already great with child.

"You'll be Aunt to a little lord-ling one day."

Petunia's visage softened in light of her sister's exuberance. Her excitement was catching; it was this same infectious emotion that had bonded them so closely as little girls, Lily's wild imagination and crazy antics drawing her more reserved sister our of her shell. They spent hours in the yard after lessons, running and chasing one another and generally causing a ruckus. And then one summer their mother had begun to take the girls to court, first Petunia and then Lily, and their childish behavior had drawn to an end. They were women; they had to act as proper ladies.

Petunia sighed at long lost memories. It didn't matter. The girls had grown up. She smiled for her sister's sake and patted her hand.

"Of course I'm happy for you. Our sons will grow up together as close as brothers, just as we were. Though you'll want to start trying soon if they're to be of an age..."

Delilah's eyebrows retreated under her bangs, eyes alight in excitement.

"Tunia!" she squealed. "Are you expecting? When were you going to tell me?"

"Nothing is official yet...but I'm a week late. And I'm never late." Petunia's smile was wry.

"Oh, this is so exciting! You're going to be a mother! Oh, Petunia," Lily was suddenly earnest, "you'll be the best mom. And I'll be an aunt! Aunt Lily. That child will be spoiled rotten when I'm through."

The girls laughed together, the previous tension dissipated in the news of Petunia's pregnancy.

"Well this changes everything," Lily exclaimed, rising to her feet. She began to pace. "Of course we'll need to move the wedding up. I was hoping for September – you know how radiant I look in Autumn as the trees begin to change – but June will do just as well. I can't have my maid of honor worrying about fitting into her dress!"

"Oh, Lil, you mean it? Maid of honor?" Petunia, too, rose from her chair, hands clutched together in front of her chest.

"Yes, dear, who else? You're the best sister a girl could ask for."

Petunia pulled her sister in for a hug. Though their relationship had been fragile these past few years, it seemed as if the news of Petunia's pregnancy and Lily's impending marriage had – if not undone – certainly eased some of the strain between the sisters. Petunia's eyes watered, tears streaking silently down her face. Lily laughed and patted her back.

"Hormones are crazy already," Petunia joked. She wiped at her eyes, accepting Lily's offered handkerchief.

"But I must go," Lily said after a moment. "I do need to tell Severus about the change of date. I can't imagine why he'd be opposed, but these things take time...two months, Tunia, can you believe it? In two months I will be Lady Snape."


End file.
